The CarbonNeutral Protocol is a global standard which underpins the CarbonNeutral® certification which is awarded by The CarbonNeutral Company

The Carbon Neutral Company

The CarbonNeutral Company is a global provider of carbon reduction solutions. Founded in 1997, the company has been one of the first providers of voluntary carbon offset credits in the world. Today, the company works with businesses in 32 countries to help them measure and reduce their carbon...

 to its clients and related products or services. It is a standard for validating carbon offset

Carbon offset

A carbon offset is a reduction in emissions of carbon dioxide or greenhouse gases made in order to compensate for or to offset an emission made elsewhere....

ting programmes which lead to carbon neutrality. It was first conceived and published in 2002 and is annually revised and updated to ensure it reflects the changing requirements of both science and business.

Protocol Details

The Protocol outlines five steps which must be followed in order to achieve CarbonNeutral® certification:
(1) Define and give a clear description of the subject applying for CarbonNeutral® certification.

(2) Accurately measure the subject’s greenhouse gas emissions.

(3) Set a target of achieving net zero emissions.

(4) Reduce emissions through internal reductions and carbon offsets.

(5) Communicate with accurate and transport information on the process of achieving CarbonNeutral® certification.

The carbon credits for CarbonNeutral® programmes are checked and validated by independent third party standards which include the Voluntary Carbon Standard

Voluntary Carbon Standard

The Verified Carbon Standard formerly the Voluntary Carbon Standard is a quality standard for voluntary carbon offset industry. Based on the Kyoto Protocol's Clean Development Mechanism, VCS establishes criteria for validating, measuring, and monitoring carbon offset projects....

, the Climate Action Reserve and Gold Standard

Gold standard

The gold standard is a monetary system in which the standard economic unit of account is a fixed mass of gold. There are distinct kinds of gold standard...

. These standards provide assurances that carbon credits that businesses buy deliver validated, verified emission reductions and have real environmental benefits.

Independent Advisory Group

Since its launch in 2002, the Protocol has been reviewed and updated annually by The CarbonNeutral Company with consultation from its Independent Advisory Group (IAG). The IAG includes scientists, industry experts and key business professionals from organisations taking action on combating climate change. Below is a list of current members:

Name	Primary Affiliation	Role	Joining Date	Declaration of Interests
Ricardo Bayon	Director, EkyVentures	Ordinary Member	September 2007	Previously Managing Director of Ecosystem Marketplace Ecosystem Marketplace Ecosystem Marketplace is a US-based non-profit organization that specifically focuses on increasing transparency and providing reliable information for ecosystem services and payment schemes.... , and lead author of ‘Voluntary Carbon Markets’ 2007.
Melanie Eddis	Director,Certification & Verification Services, Environmental Resources Ltd	Ordinary Member	Inception September 2005	Previously with KPMG KPMG KPMG is one of the largest professional services networks in the world and one of the Big Four auditors, along with Deloitte, Ernst & Young and PwC. Its global headquarters is located in Amstelveen, Netherlands....  & led verification work for CarbonNeutral in 2004, 2005, 2006.
Charles Crosthwaite Eyre	Managing Director, Eyre Consulting Limited	Ordinary member	Inception September 2005	Director of business risk consultancy Eyre Consulting Ltd with a variety of remunerated business and government clients in the UK. Conducted independent review of carbon offset project for IAG (remunerated) in 2007.
Jo Fox	Deputy Director, The Bigger Picture at Sky	Ordinary member (CarbonNeutral client representative)	September 2009	The CarbonNeutral Company is a supplier to Sky.
Michael Gillenwater	Executive Director and Dean, Greenhouse Gas Management Institute	Ordinary member	June 2008	Also Executive Director of Greenhouse Gas Experts Network. Technical advisor to the UNFCCC and former Director at Environmental Resources Trust. Currently with Princeton University Princeton University Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution.... . Previously with the US government's Environmental Protection Agency.
Dr. Cameron Hepburn	Senior Research Fellow, Smith School, Oxford University	Ordinary member	March 2009	Director of Climate Bridge Ltd (a supplier to The CarbonNeutral Company); Director of Vivid Economics Ltd; Academic Panel Member of Defra; Visiting Fellow at the Grantham Institute of the London School of Economics London School of Economics The London School of Economics and Political Science is a public research university specialised in the social sciences located in London, United Kingdom, and a constituent college of the federal University of London... .
Alan Knight	Commissioner, UK Sustainable Development Commission Sustainable Development Commission The Sustainable Development Commission was a non-departmental public body responsible for advising the UK Government, Scottish Government, Welsh Assembly Government, and Northern Ireland Executive on sustainable development....	Ordinary Member	September 2006	Director of consultancy Single Planet Living, with various remunerated consultancy assignments & advisory positions with government agencies and corporations. Conducted independent review of carbon offset project for IAG (remunerated) in 2007.
Dorothy McIntosh	Climate and Carbon Business Development Manager of Mercy Corps Mercy Corps Mercy Corps is a global aid agency engaged in transitional environments that have experienced some sort of shock: natural disaster, economic collapse, or conflict. People working for it move as quickly as possible from bringing in food and supplies to enabling people to rebuild their economy with...	Ordinary Member	March 2009	Director of Plan Vivo and Director of Carbon Matters
Prof. John Murlis	Visiting Professor, University College London University College London University College London is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom and the oldest and largest constituent college of the federal University of London...	Chair	Inception September 2005	Various remunerated advisory and consutling appointments with corporate clients and government agencies.
John O Niles	Chief Science and Policy Officer, Carbon Conservation	Ordinary member	Inception September 2005	Previously with Climate, Community and Biodiversity Alliance (CCBA) and Coalition for Rainforest Nations Coalition for Rainforest Nations The Coalition for Rainforest Nations is an intergovernmental organization established by forested tropical counties to collaboratively reconcile forest stewardship with economic development...  (CfRN).
Richard Owers	Marketing Director of Pureprint Group and Business Development Director of Beacon Press Beacon Press Beacon Press is an American non-profit book publisher. Founded in 1854 by the American Unitarian Association, it is currently a department of the Unitarian Universalist Association.Beacon Press is a member of the Association of American University Presses....	Ordinary member (CarbonNeutral client representative)	June 2009	Member of Two Sides Sustainability Group and member the British Printing Industries Federation (BPIF) Environmental Advisory Group. The CarbonNeutral Company is a supplier to Pureprint Group.
Jonathan Shopley	Executive Director, The CarbonNeutral Company The Carbon Neutral Company The CarbonNeutral Company is a global provider of carbon reduction solutions. Founded in 1997, the company has been one of the first providers of voluntary carbon offset credits in the world. Today, the company works with businesses in 32 countries to help them measure and reduce their carbon...	CarbonNeutral Company representative	Inception September 2005	Full time CarbonNeutral Company employee
Dr. Richard Tipper	Managing Director, Ecometrica	Ordinary member (Technical advisor to the IAG)	Inception September 2005	Former director of the Edinburgh Centre for Carbon Management, a trading arm of Energy for Sustainable Development, which is a wholly owned subsidiary of Camco plc. ECCM, ESD and Camco have commercial relationships with The CarbonNeutral Company.
Dr. Sally Uren	Director, The Forum for the Future Forum for the Future Forum for the Future is a British non-profit organisation with a mission to promote sustainable development. Its vision is of "businesses and communities thriving in a future that’s environmentally sustainable and socially just". It runs partnerships with more than 90 organisations across business...  (FFF)	Ordinary member	September 2006	FFF's advisor to BP, Ford UK and Royal Household, and others on carbon management programs. Chair of the External Governance Committee for Land Rover Land Rover Land Rover is a British car manufacturer with its headquarters in Gaydon, Warwickshire, United Kingdom which specialises in four-wheel-drive vehicles. It is owned by the Indian company Tata Motors, forming part of their Jaguar Land Rover group...  offset proposition, owned by Tata.

Cross compliance with PAS 2060

Developed by the British Standards Institute, PAS 2060

BSI PAS 2060

PAS 2060 is a specification detailing how to demonstrate carbon neutrality produced and published by the British Standards Institution.- History :...

is a public specification for carbon neutrality. It was developed through consultation with a number of carbon offset providers which included The CarbonNeutral Company.The similarities and differences between the Protocol and PAS 2060 can be summarised as follows:

1. Description of Subject.

a. CarbonNeutral protocol requires a clear description of the subject; PAS 2060 states that the subject’s purpose, objectives and functions must be described.

2. Measurement of greenhouse gas emissions.

a. CarbonNeutral Protocol states Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions should be accurately measured depending on entity being certified; PAS 2060 requires 100% of Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions, plus all Scope 3 emissions that contribute more than 1% of the total footprint.

3. Reduction of emissions through internal reductions and carbon offsets.

a. CarbonNeutral Protocol states that the subject must set a target of net zero emissions to be achieved by offsetting and internal reduction targets; PAS 2060 requires that the subject show year-on-year reductions in emissions in either absolute or relative terms relative to a baseline. In the event of a subject having a reduction target in relative terms (carbon intensity per unit of product, turnover etc) the reduction should be greater than the regional economic growth rate.

b. PAS 2060 requires that offset credits are retired with 12 months of a declaration of PAS 2060 neutrality.

4. Declaration and transparency.

a. CarbonNeutral Protocol states that subjects must communicate with accurate and transparent information on the process of achieving CarbonNeutral® certification; PAS 2060 requires all public declarations to conform to BS EN ISO/IEC 17050-1 and that all supporting documentation be made publicly available.

5. Verification and Certification.

a. CarbonNeutral Protocol states that data must be verified CarbonNeutral certifier; PAS 2060 allows for self-certification, other party verification or third party independent validation (by UKAS-registered certifiers).